There’s been lots of speculation regarding a Sprint-T-Mobile merger lately, including news that Sprint and SoftBank have started informal talks about a deal with T-Mo parent company Deutsche Telekom. Now T-Mobile itself has chimed in on the matter.

During an investors conference earlier today, T-Mobile CFO Braxton Carter said that he expects merger talks to happen now that the FCC’s 600MHz auction and its quiet period have ended. “It’s not a question of will talks happen; of course they’ll happen,” he said.

Carter went on to say that Sprint makes for a logical partner for T-Mobile thanks to their “precarious financial position” and their collection of 2.5GHz spectrum. He went on to explain:

“Sprint has a treasure trove of 2.5 spectrum. Granted, not all of it’s the same; part of it has a little bit of hair on it. But that is still a treasure trove that you could do amazing things with. And the synergy comes from putting these two networks together, and having the densification necessary to ubiquitously deploy that 2.5. Sprint’s doing that city by city now. And that will take them a decade with that type of strategy.”

T-Mobile COO Mike Sievert also touched on a potential merger, saying that there could “absolutely” be an advantage by striking a deal, but that T-Mobile will only pursue a deal if it can improve shareholder value and keep business performing well. Sievert also suggested that cable companies could end up kicking the tires on a deal involving T-Mo.

So basically, we’re in the same spot that we’ve been in, with all parties interested in talking about a deal but nothing concrete being formed. It’s no surprise that T-Mobile would be interested in striking a deal for Sprint given its supply of spectrum, but considering how well T-Mobile has been doing in recent years, it’s not under any pressure to get a deal done in a hurry or anything like that. For now we’ll just have to wait and see how this situation plays out.

None of what you said makes any sense nor does it even work that way. Nice attempt to troll, though.

gpt2010

How is that trolling? What Mike says about the network has a great chance of happening. Metro PCS was running under CDMA but got shutdown and turned into a GSM network. TMO even set a date to officially shutdown the CDMA network. Google it. Not sure about the Sprint employee part. It would be trolling if Mike talked bad about TMO on a TMO fan site. He is talking trash about Sprint

StevenM

In an LTE world, there is no reason to convert CDMA to GSM. All they need to do is enable VOLTE, add network density where needed, and eventually shut down CDMA as they transition customers from devices that do not support VOLTE.

Mike

Sprint newer phones like the iphone 7, samsung s7 & 8, G6, and Note 5 I know for sure can be unlocked to work on T-Mobile network. All T-Mo will have to do is offer free and discounted phone upgrades for customers with older Sprint phones like they did with Metro PCS.

StevenM

You’re correct. T-Mobile would have to be careful not to overload their existing network if they were to do this.

To take it a step further, if VOLTE was enabled on the Sprint LTE network, you could even send an update to enable the Sprint LTE bands on T-Mobile devices that support these bands. This will help to load balance the networks.

It’s super technical & GSM has nothing to do with LTE. Sprint uses a very advanced form of LTE-A called TD-LTE, vs OFDM. So the issue is the very old comparison of CDMA (Which by the way, is what UNTS uses, in an updated version) vs ‘GSM’. GSM isn’t even used for calls anymore, because it’s encryption is so weak.

Andrew Addison

Lol Go somewhere dude. T-Mobile-MetroPCS has way Better technology, rich Advanced LTE/Call Quality/Strongest LTE signal than any other carrier would have ever dreamed to have had. T-Mobile-MetroPCS were the first ones in USA to have been able to come out with RCS Advanced Messaging, Voice over LTE, Enhanced Voice Services, Video Calling, Advanced Wifi Calling and HD Voice all in one full juicy package there. MetroPCS were also the ones to have gotten their LTE/Voice over LTE cdma network from overseas and giving their Advanced featurings right on over to T-Mobile(and T-Mobile once buying out MetroPCS in the verse merger/take over to have rebranded themselves into being TMUS which stands for T-Mobile-MrtroPCS Nation, and T-Mobile redoing the whole LTE/network all over again through new equipment/technologies). So what are you saying? Sprint is dead last and weak.

Dude, you’re just muttering marketing BS. I’ve worked in Wireless for many years. I actually know the things I am talking about, sorry if you’d like the truth. The truth is T-Mobile needs customers for their accounting practices and growth revenue to play out net cash positive & Sprints the answer to that. FWIW, I like both companies. I wouldnt have service w/ either of them now, they have to many issues, but Id consider the new Sprint or T-Mobile after the dust settles. Also man, dont take shi* personally. No ones out to get you.

I didn’t say the shi* worked great, LOL! God, they just need a real CEO & good leadership. Marcelo is cool, but hes a logistics guy. Gunther is great, but the Asian leadership wont give him any money.Anyhow, its all moot now, Marcelo is now on Softbanks Board which means this deal is % going forward.

Do you or a family member work for Sprint? If so better start updating the resume.

turtle6988

Mike knows what he’s talking about. That’s what T-mobile did with Metro pcs.

Durandal_1707

With actual nationwide low-band spectrum (!!), T-Mobile is in the best shape it’s ever been in.

They don’t need freaking Sprint.

Matt

Adding Sprint won’t add any value to T-Mobile. In fact, it may make things very much worse for T-Mobile. Just the basic network differences alone (CDMA vs GSM) creates a big technological challenge.

gpt2010

CDMA will be phased out completely if they take over Sprint like they did with Metro PCS. It will take some time to upgrade all customers to GSM, but it will eventually happen once all the towers get upgraded to GSM.

GersonT1000

Yes, it will help their network. At some point after merging, they will use the same technology, and Sprint’s wider band spectrum can be used to aggregate low and high band frequencies to provide very high speed data connections and 5G. Low band is helpful in rural areas to reach further with fewer antennas, and in cities to penetrate buildings better, but only low band spectrum by itself in the city where there are a lot of people connected will have a negative impact on data speeds. I love T-Mobile but when inside my office at work I can’t stream video except very low quality YouTube.

Jan VanDerziel

The last couple years myself and everyone I know has seen a decline in the way t-mobile treats customers! What will they do without competition for Sprint!

Lmrvrgs

totally agree. I thought i was the only one to notice. i use to always love Tmobile customer service. i always had peace of mind that whenever i dialed 611 i would get the best service, Tmobile would always go above and beyond for their customers. Now when i call im lucky if i get a USA call center, im sorry but foreign call centers can never troubleshoot any of my problems. please change this.

Joe

T-force would be your best bet to get stuff fixed.

Suzanne Allen

what is T-force?

AngryBadger

social media/t-mobile forums reps. if you tweet tmobile or send a message to facebook page… usually a t-force rep will message you or tag you for a PM/DM. They definitely do some great work.

gpt2010

I try not to call outside of normal business hours. Most of the time I have been able to avoid the foreign call centers. I hate those too!

M.S. WARD

Check to find ou in your area/region, if you dial 611 MON- FRIl 8-8, you may get your local call center in your state.
Works wonderful where I live..

Sharti24

The added customers and the high band spectrum would be nice. But is it worth the debt? Plus the coverage for both is basically identical. No real advantage there

gpt2010

I think the coverage would get even better and we would see even faster data. Sprint has a ton of 2.5 spectrum that they have failed to deploy even to this day. TMO could use that in more dense cities by deploying even more towers to keep data traffic moving. That in combination with the new low band spectrum TMO bought in the auction will get them to launch a robust 5G service nation wide.

Schappell Willis

Sprints coverage is shit. T-Mobile would have a LOOOT work on yheir hands to bring sprints equip ment up to par. Thjs mergr will br terrible if it goes through.

turtle6988

The sprint network would be shut down. T-mobile would have sprint stores selling Sprint branded phones with T-Mobile bands on them, to get customers off of the sprint network and putting T-Mobile equipment on sprint towers. Network shutdown would take 2 years per 10 million sprint customers

marque2

I think what he means is that both have a bit of trouble when wandering away from big cities. The merger will provide bandwidth in the cities but still won’t solve the rural coverage issues (and I am talking along major interstates)

M.S. WARD

I left Sprint after 8 years. Due to AWFUL customer care, service issues, just horrible..I went to TMOBILE…customercare is STELLAR in my experience! I am in my 6th year now. When there has been an issue, agents take ownership or escalate to get a resolve
I admit the T-Mobile ” brick & mortar/store customer care” leaves a bit to be desired..lol..but I just deal with 611 now, and get what i need done.
I am truly concerned about this merger happening…

Larry E

Completely agree. Same thing happened to me with Sprint, 14 years ago! Such a horrible experience, I STILL wouldn’t even consider signing up with them.

M.S. WARD

Exactly!!

Panamanian Prince Remi-Redd

I’m sorry, but if Tmobile partner with Sprint it will be time to say goodbye and hello AT&T!

Dylan Wentworth

Merging with sprint will no doubt be bad for consumers but switching to AT&T, a company that rides along the boundaries of fraud for millions of people, is not something you want to do voluntarily.

dtam

I think what Dylan is trying to say is, if a merger were to happen, most likely all consumers would be screwed

Dylan Wentworth

What Dylan is trying to say is having a choice between T-mobile+sprint or Verizon or AT&T is like having a choice of constipation, diarrhea and ebola. (Whereas AT&T is the ebola)

Richard Darrington

Lol

RP

This merger would be disastrous for the consumer most notably in the way of customer care. I have worked for both companies and their cultures are not on the same wavelength. Although my time with T-Mobile was during the time when they felt it was great to shove products down customers throats, the company has made a huge turnaround in the past 4 years with CEO change out. Dobson was unqualified to lead a nationwide company, but Legere has made bold moves to restrengthen the company.

Dylan Wentworth

Having the extra spectrum is only good if there’s any companies left to compete with.

The merger will be good for T-mobile, the company, the executives, the shareholders but it will not be good for the wireless market or for consumers. More choice and competition is how we got things like good customer service and a lot of the earlier uncarrier rollouts.

Adam

All I care about is if the merger will mean the end of grandfathered pricing.

Andrew Addison

Your plans will be grandfathered in. Trust that part.

John Doe

No, merge with Dish. Their spectrum is much better and that way you can work with Echostar to use their satellites as well.

Schappell Willis

Please no merger. Everything about sprint is bad. There service is terrible, customer care is ridiculously bad. T-Mobile will lose a lot of customers merging with sprint. Listen to us T-Mobile investors. This will be a really bad move. Metropcs is vetter than sprint. Thats how bad sprint.

turtle6988

Even with T-mobile in charge?

marque2

They did well with Metro PCS, but Sprint it 6 times larger. It might not be as easy to Borg.

turtle6988

It will be just as easy it will just take longer. About 2 years per 10 million customers. I was part of the project when we merged with Metro pcs.

barn fife

Both TMO/Sprint networks are bad if comparing to VZ and ATT.. One not better than the other.

RLB63

MetroPCS IS T-Mobile….

Sandy Morrow

I love tmobile and if they go with sprint. I wont stay i cant stand them. Whenni call customer service they treat me great. Tmobile listen to you’re customer’s you dont need this. Just up grade your service better

Troy Nathaniel Garner

I have been with Sprint for 8 years and the customer service went horribly bad when they did that Friends and Family promotion. Then got progressively worse. Unfortunately T-Mobile back then thir sales reps were horrible to my wife when she was trying to find me a cell phone for the job I had at the time. Unfortunately AT&T and Verizon is not that much better. If this does happen, hopefully they will clean up their acts and realize customers come first.

jerry arnold (jdawgsworld)

It’s rare demonstrates positive consumer care…if the consumer can benefit awesome but they will think of corporate concerns 1st…

marque2

I hav never had an issue with TMo customer care. Frequently I call just to ask.about a charge, and they just take it off even though it is legit. They are also very helpful when there are problems and go out of their way to bend the rules in your favor. I tried Sprint a few years back when they were dual marketing Nexus 5 on their Network. I couldn’t find anyone who would admit to.supporting the phone, claimed they weren’t getting Sims etc. I gave up and just put a second line on TMo. Point is you might want to give TMo another chance, things go array sometime but I have never experienced better customer service from a company.

Ben Holliday

Well if they do merge, hopefully its under the Tmobile brand, with the Tmobile management in charge, and they continue using gsm. I’ll never use Sprint or CDMA ever.

Sprint is a terrible company. I’d rather pay more with ATT than be a sprint customer.

Jason

Thats what would likely happen. Itll be TMO with new spectrum to deploy, which Tmo does very very well and quickly

barn fife

TMO CEO has a golden parachute for leaving once they merge with someone. Regardless of who gets control there needs to be a name change if tmo/sprint does happen.

Jason

I disagree. It should simply be T-Mobile and Sprint brand should be converted over. Tmo is by far the dominant and best run company. Its brand is 10 times more valuable now than the Sprint brand or any new name you come up with.

barn fife

You live in a different place than me.. TMO has a reputation here.. T-Maybe.. signal struggles not just here.. travel the US a bit. They need a new name if combining. All that name recognition doesn’t send my picture messages.

jerry arnold (jdawgsworld)

I think GSM is the stronger standard…

Jason Caprio

If T-Mobile and Sprint merge, what would stop Verizon and AT&T merging? Imagine that lol

Jason

Govt wouldnt allow it

Acdc1a

Wouldn’t they? If they can justify three National Carriers surely they can justify two.

jerry arnold (jdawgsworld)

Agreed…AT&T is the product of a court-ordered break-up they gonna thread lightly

Jason

That break up by the way is what lead to the cell phone revolution. Its true that a lot of the technologies were developed and discovered in Bell Labs when it was the only company, but the break up caused the baby bells to compete against each other which created massive technological advancement. And the most successful ones thrived.

jerry arnold (jdawgsworld)

Yup…straight up…my point is AT&T is working on other projects…

Richard Darrington

That would make a good documentary

The One

How does a justification for 3 automatically equate to a justification for 2? The whole point of allowing 3 would be to promote competition by making T-Mobile & Sprint large enough to compete against the other two. It’s historically been AT&T & Verizon sitting at the top, with Sprint and T-Mobile fighting each other for scraps.

BLACK FROSTING

IT CALLED A SCRAPE PLATE DOWN SOUTH

MrMegiddo

The government wasn’t going to let AT&T buy T-Mobile because it would make them too big and kill competition. Combining them with Verizon would be a monopoly in the making.

Durandal_1707

That was the Obama FCC though. It’s a new world now, a world that doesn’t give a $@#%

Bklynman

Right,just like before,when NY Telephone was force to break up,Mr.Greedy above is all for this because his shares would go thru the roof. Remember he is all for to get rid of Net neutrality. Alex posted a article about this awhile back.

jerry arnold (jdawgsworld)

AT&T is a lot bigger than T-Mobile…pretty close to 30% of the domestic market I’m sure

WittyPixel

No one should be fusion dancing.

Reagan1

As long as it’s not Comcast, I’m pretty indifferent because something is going to happen. I think Dish makes more sense, but by the comments above, it seems Sprint has spectrum they want. We’ll know something in the next few months is my guess.

Alex Zapata

Well if they’re serious then I guess I’ll hold off on getting a new phone lol

Andrew Addison

Fair enough :)

Sharti24

Lol wont happen for at least 2 or more years. No need to wait to get a new phone. Buy now unless youre waiting for a 600mhz phone

Home based mother Kelly Richards from New York after signing off from her regular job been able to profit from $26000-$28000 monthly from freelancing in the house… This is how she working it >>> URLFAT.COM/4C5

rdbyrne

So what is the big deal with 600 MHz?

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